Local search engine optimization is a critical component in your overall SEO marketing strategy. While any reputable company can perform professional local SEO, there are advantages to using a locally-based company. Those advantages are as follows:
1. Local SEO companies are familiar with the area you serve
A local SEO company will be familiar with consumers in the area you serve. While they may not be too familiar with your industry or market, knowing the area’s demographics is a huge plus. For instance, if you’re running a restaurant in a small town, an SEO company that works for other businesses in town will know the local demographics better than anyone.
When you work with a company that knows the demographics of your local service area, you can more easily segment your market. That’s why many SEO companies brand themselves with their local area. They want to attract customers who need local expertise. For instance, SEO Long Island will work with anyone regardless of location, but branding the company with a specific locale is great for SEO and speaks directly to local businesses.
2. Local SEO companies will have experience marketing locally
Whether you’re marketing online or offline, local SEO companies will have experience marketing in your local area. Local companies usually know about marketing opportunities that you may not be aware of. These opportunities may not always be directly related to search engine optimization, but will benefit you immensely.
For example, there might be a local coffee shop willing to tuck your marketing flyer into customers’ pastry bags for a small fee. Or, the local family-owned pharmacy might offer advertising printed on their paper bags.
Since SEO is intertwined with multiple marketing components, professional SEO firms will usually have a lead on the best local strategies that support your entire marketing campaign. Any marketing strategy you execute can be used to drive traffic to your site, which does impact your search rankings.
3. You can discuss business in person
There’s nothing wrong with hiring an SEO firm online and conducting all meetings through video conferencing, but sometimes in-person meetings are better. It’s nice to meet face-to-face to discuss business; you get a better feel for someone’s personality and their interest in/commitment to your project.
The other reason connecting in person makes a difference is the opportunity to build rapport. It’s not easy to build rapport with someone over video chat. In person, rapport is built naturally and easily.
4. A local SEO firm may have extensive knowledge of your industry
If you hire an SEO firm located in your local service area, there’s a good chance they’ve worked for your competition at some point. This means they’ll have a firm grasp on what strategies and keywords are most valuable in your industry.
You probably won’t get them to tell you what they did for your competition, but they’ll use the same strategies to help you – they have no other choice. If you’re looking for an advantage over your competition, you might need to pay more for an aggressive local SEO campaign, but if you have the budget it will be worth every penny.
5. You’ll be in the same time zone
Nothing is more frustrating than having to get up at 5am to meet with your SEO team because they live on the other side of the world. Or worse, having to skip dinner to meet at 6pm.
When you hire a local SEO company, you’ll be in the same time zone and all of your meetings can take place during normal business hours. Nobody has to stay up late or get up early for meetings, and there won’t be a 12-hour delay in communications.
Need better local SEO results? Hire a local company
If you want good results, hire a good SEO company. If you want stellar results, hire an outstanding SEO company in your local area. However, don’t hire the first local company you find. It’s better to hire an SEO firm based on reputation and results first rather than being local.
If you can’t find a reputable, successful firm local to your area, then consider hiring an in-house SEO specialist. In a perfect world, your ideal SEO expert is both local and successful in getting clients results, whether you hire in-house or not.